# Tin foil: Commonly used term, but was there ever such a consumer product? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 26, 2009, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-foil-commonly-used-term-but-was-there-ever-such-a-consumer-product/483059 "2009-01-26T15:43:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-foil-commonly-used-term-but-was-there-ever-such-a-consumer-product/483059/41 "2009-01-27T19:15:12Z")
As well as being used for the lining of tea-chests, tin-foil was also used to line wooden tea-caddies in the 17th and 18th centuries. They were used to store tea at home and usually had a lock because tea was so expensive back then:- [http://www.dkimages.com/discover/DKIMAGES/Discover/Home/Food-and-Drink/Drinks/Beverages/Tea/General/General-11.html](http://www.dkimages.com/discover/DKIMAGES/Discover/Home/Food-and-Drink/Drinks/Beverages/Tea/General/General-11.html) ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-foil-commonly-used-term-but-was-there-ever-such-a-consumer-product/483059/42 "2009-01-27T19:26:45Z")
Well, apparently it was something other than [How It’s Made](http://www.truveo.com/How-Its-Made-Aluminum-Foil/id/2183020754) that I saw because this clip from there doesn’t mention the double sheeting or matte/shiny finishes. We watch a lot of these types. I’ll look for it to come on again. [This site](http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Aluminium_foil) does confirm it and credits “cold rolling” but is without the video. _“The continuous casting method is much less energy intensive and has become the preferred process. For thicknesses below 0.025 mm (0.001 in), two layers are usually put together for the final pass which produces foil with one bright side and one matte side. The two sides in contact with each other are matte and the exterior sides become bright. This done to reduce tearing, increase production rates, control thickness, and get around the need for a smaller diameter roller.”_ ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-foil-commonly-used-term-but-was-there-ever-such-a-consumer-product/483059/43 "2009-01-27T19:48:39Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > Well, apparently it was something other than [How It’s Made](http://www.truveo.com/How-Its-Made-Aluminum-Foil/id/2183020754) that I saw because this clip from there doesn’t mention the double sheeting or matte/shiny finishes. We watch a lot of these types. I’ll look for it to come on again. The _How It’s Made_ ep you refer to does mention this, in fact, although it doesn’t delve into the specific reasons for running two sheets through the final roll. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-foil-commonly-used-term-but-was-there-ever-such-a-consumer-product/483059/44 "2009-01-27T20:16:56Z")
You guys are probably confusing _How It’s Made_ with Cecil’s column on [aluminum foil](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1135/should-a-baking-potato-be-wrapped-in-foil-shiny-side-in-or-shiny-side-out). I say “tin/aluminum” foil about 50/50 depending on whether I’m interested in speed or accuracy. St. Louis area for those keeping score. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-foil-commonly-used-term-but-was-there-ever-such-a-consumer-product/483059/45 "2009-01-27T21:03:56Z")
Born in Colorado, grew up in Wisconsin, now live in Minnesota. I interchange “tin foil” and “aluminum foil” pretty much 50/50 too, and guess that most people around here do as well. It’s certainly not uncommon to hear “tin foil,” and no one would look at you sideways for using it. ---
**Author:** ![nofloyd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nofloyd/32/2870_2.png) [@nofloyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nofloyd)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-foil-commonly-used-term-but-was-there-ever-such-a-consumer-product/483059/46 "2009-01-27T21:20:55Z")
40 yo from northern New Jersey - it’s always been ‘tin foil’. I can’t really remember hearing ‘aluminum foil’ from anyone here at all. Too long. Maybe some do, but seems that tin foil is the clear winner here. Despite all the boxes that say aluminum. ---
**Author:** ![DfrntBreign](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f6c823/32.png) [@DfrntBreign](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DfrntBreign)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-foil-commonly-used-term-but-was-there-ever-such-a-consumer-product/483059/47 "2009-01-28T00:29:58Z")
> [@Q.E.D](#): > > How did people from your generation survive this long? 😛 I think the more relevant question is “How did your generation get so fragile?” 😛 I can’t believe I got to say that first. I also think that the UK people don’t use “aluminum foil” so much because they pronounce “aluminum” wrong, so it doesn’t flow as well. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-foil-commonly-used-term-but-was-there-ever-such-a-consumer-product/483059/48 "2009-01-28T00:33:43Z")
> [@DfrntBreign](#): > > I also think that the UK people don’t use “aluminum foil” so much because they pronounce “aluminum” wrong, so it doesn’t flow as well. 😃 You jest, but I think you’re right - the UK pronunciation is something like al-you-min-ee-yum - that’s too much of a mouthful for usage in this context. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-foil-commonly-used-term-but-was-there-ever-such-a-consumer-product/483059/49 "2009-01-28T00:36:22Z")
Another UK’er, and I’m sure I’ve heard it referred to as ‘silver paper’ too. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-foil-commonly-used-term-but-was-there-ever-such-a-consumer-product/483059/50 "2009-01-28T00:45:10Z")
I’ve heard that too, but only (I think) in the context of foil+paper gum wrappers. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-foil-commonly-used-term-but-was-there-ever-such-a-consumer-product/483059/51 "2009-01-28T00:45:12Z")
I’ve heard both “tin foil” / “aluminum foil” often enough not to think either strange. I’ve also heard people genericize “Reynolds Wrap”, using the term to refer to some other brand, which would probably not make Reynolds Packaging Group terribly happy. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-foil-commonly-used-term-but-was-there-ever-such-a-consumer-product/483059/52 "2009-01-28T00:49:44Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I’ve heard that too, but only (I think) in the context of foil+paper gum wrappers. Yeah, we definitely didn’t call our ‘spoggy’ wrappers tin-foil! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-foil-commonly-used-term-but-was-there-ever-such-a-consumer-product/483059/53 "2009-01-28T12:39:15Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > We always called it “tin foil,” which may be a function of my parents ages (born 1921, 1924). Or maybe it’s from all the tin cans—which really were tin. Remember punching triangular holes into soda cans, before pop top aluminum cans came along? > > It wasn’t until high school chem class that I learned we’d been brushing our teeth with tin…stannous fluoride, that is. nitpick- tin cans were tin coated steel. I don’t believe they were ever just tin. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-foil-commonly-used-term-but-was-there-ever-such-a-consumer-product/483059/54 "2009-01-28T15:50:15Z")
> [@rbroome](#): > > nitpick- tin cans were tin coated steel. I don’t believe they were ever just tin. Tin cans were first patented in 1810, long before steel was anything but a rare and expensive specialty item. The first cans were cut by hand out of strips of tin and lead soldered closed. I can’t find a date for when steel replaced tin, but my guess is that it wasn’t until the 20th century when the so-called “sanitary” can was developed. Sanitary because it used a better method of crimping the top so that no soldering was necessary. In any case, almost any 19th century reference to a tin can almost certainly means a can made out of tin. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-foil-commonly-used-term-but-was-there-ever-such-a-consumer-product/483059/55 "2009-01-28T19:32:02Z")
I’ve been contemplating asking this questions so I guess I’ll try a hijack here. I don’t remember ever seeing tin, except that thin layer on “tin” cans. What’s it like if you have, say, a cc in your hand? Is it pretty much like a chunk of aluminum would be? ---
**Author:** ![kapntoad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@kapntoad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kapntoad)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-foil-commonly-used-term-but-was-there-ever-such-a-consumer-product/483059/56 "2009-01-28T22:16:49Z")
Dangit. I have no idea which term I use. They both sound perfectly right. And now I’ll never know, due to the linguistic variation of the Uncertainty Principle. (Having read this thread, I can no longer thoughtlessly use one or the other.) Someone’s going to have to rock me to sleep tonight. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2017, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-foil-commonly-used-term-but-was-there-ever-such-a-consumer-product/483059/57 "2017-02-22T10:32:38Z")
I thought I’d resurrect this thread for a follow-up question. Upthread we’ve established that yes, tin foil made from tin was a real consumer product, and that it has since been supplanted by aluminum foil (even though many people still call it “tin foil”). But does anyone still make real tin foil as a consumer product, like for kitchen use? Just for kicks I’d like to buy a roll and see how it compares to aluminum. But on sites like Amazon, searches for “tin foil” bring up nothing but aluminum products. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2017, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-foil-commonly-used-term-but-was-there-ever-such-a-consumer-product/483059/58 "2017-02-22T12:31:12Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > Another UK’er, and I’m sure I’ve heard it referred to as ‘silver paper’ too. Silver paper was the very thin foil that used to line cigarette packets. My mother would talk about “tinfoil” but as far as I can remember, I and most people I know, just call it “foil”. Tea chests (the Boston Tea Part type) were lined with tin foil, but the earlier ones that were used to bring tea from China, were lined with lead foil covered with paper. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2017, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-foil-commonly-used-term-but-was-there-ever-such-a-consumer-product/483059/59 "2017-02-22T12:42:15Z")
> [@KlondikeGeoff](#): > > When I was young in the dinosaur age, there was also a heavier lead foil. That and tinfoil were used primarily for packaging, such as for cigarettes, foodstuffs, etc. Many of us kept the cigarette leadfoil and rolled it into balls, which grew bigger and bigger. There were contests among kids for the one with the biggest balls. Lead, that is. 😃 > > As I recall, it was not until many years later that aluminum foil was available in packages for home wrapping use. I’d have to guess in the 60s or 70s, but can’t recall now. Yup, me too. Before WWII aircraft needs, aluminum was a virtually unknown material. Cigarette packs were the biggest source. Everybody littered in those days, cigarette packs were just thrown on the ground when empty, and we’d get the interior wrapping out, soak them in water to remove the paper, and have a ready source of heavy metal. But I haven’t heard it called “tin foil” in a long time. The most common generic term seems to be “foil wrap”, or in kitchen talk, just “foil”. In 1950, there were no plastic bags or plastic wrap, either. I think Saran Wrap came out about then, which was a miracle convenience in the kitchen. It replaced waxed paper. Try to imagine growing up in a world without plastic, like I did. ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2017, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-foil-commonly-used-term-but-was-there-ever-such-a-consumer-product/483059/60 "2017-02-22T13:24:22Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > I thought I’d resurrect this thread for a follow-up question. Upthread we’ve established that yes, tin foil made from tin was a real consumer product, and that it has since been supplanted by aluminum foil (even though many people still call it “tin foil”). But does anyone still make real tin foil as a consumer product, like for kitchen use? Just for kicks I’d like to buy a roll and see how it compares to aluminum. But on sites like Amazon, searches for “tin foil” bring up nothing but aluminum products. Tin foil also is (or was) used as a dental filling material, and so can be bought from dental supply companies. But [the price may be a bit steep for casual purchase.](https://www.net32.com/ec/tinfoil-001-1-pound-d-88960) One can probably also buy it from chemical suppliers, but their prices are probably even higher. If you do end up purchasing some to compare it to aluminum foil, be sure that the thicknesses are comparable. It’s probably not terribly illustrative to compare a .001" thickness of aluminum foil with a .005" thickness of tin foil, for example. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-foil-commonly-used-term-but-was-there-ever-such-a-consumer-product/483059.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tin-foil-commonly-used-term-but-was-there-ever-such-a-consumer-product/483059.md?page=4)